Review of Millenium 10-11-10 Cruise

Our trip on the Millenium (10-11 through 10-22) was exceptional.

Embarkation check-in was amazingly simple and quick. We toured the ship before heading to deck 10 for lunch. We met our stateroom attendant Lydia and our butler John. Our luggage was delivered in a timely manner and John offered to help us unpack. Not necessary for us, but we thanked him anyway.

The itinerary was perfect. 4 of the 8 islands we had visited before (St. Lucia, Barbados, Aruba and Curacao) and 4 were new to us (St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica and Grenada). All were lovely in their own way. My husband is a scuba diver and did make dives on 5 of the 8 islands. The only one he was not happy with was the excursion with Mermaid Divers in Aruba. They broke all the rules and he was very upset on his return to the ship. This wasn’t a ship-sponsored excursion, so I can’t tell you what their excursion was like.

I did a whale-watching trip in Dominica, but not with the ship. I signed up with Captain Jerry on the advice of another CC member. What a great trip it was and I would advise anyone else considering a whale-watching trip to contact him. We saw 8 whales, 2 of them were calves. They are amazing creatures!

I took the ship’s shore excursion in Barbados, which was a turtle snorkeling trip. That was a mistake and probably the only bad part of the cruise. The tour operators dropped us off into a 3-4 knot current and we were swept away from their boat. I’m not a strong swimmer, and my husband had to swim against the current with me hanging onto him. That was a frightening trip and I plan on letting Celebrity know that I felt the tour operators should not have put us into the water in a current like that. To add insult to injury, the crew members were laughing at the people needing help returning to the boat on the second snorkeling stop. I know because I was afraid to get into the water there after my first experience, and I heard them. They had to launch a small rescue boat to bring some of their passengers to safety there. Very funny, huh?

The food was excellent in the dining room and our waiter and assistant waiter very attentive. Serap, the assistant waiter, was the most charming young lady, always smiling. The food in the buffet was good enough for a lunch or breakfast buffet. I don’t remember anything there that I disliked. Well, maybe the coffee. Why coffee at dinner tasted better than coffee from the Ocean Grill – I never could figure that out. Dinner at the Olympic restaurant was beyond compare. We enjoyed that meal immensely and the service was fantastic. Our dinner companions were great – we really enjoyed spending our time with them.

The accommodations were more than satisfactory – we found everything to be neat and clean and we were very happy with the décor and the upkeep of the ship in general.

Crew members from officers to the men and women shining the mirrors and the doors were always ready with a greeting and a smile.

We asked everyone we saw how they were enjoying the cruise and they all said what a great time they were having. There were a very few people who complained – but aren’t there always just a few?

We were sad to leave the ship, but the only thing that made it bearable was to be able to see my children and grandson again. Otherwise, I would have been seriously considering a back-to-back, if I had a few more bucks to spare!

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Millennium again in January 2011 for the third year in a row. Can't wait!

Thanks so much for the review and the picture - sounds like a great trip!

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! We also had Lydia as a stateroom attendant on our Caribbean cruise on the Millennium and she was wonderful!

Nice !! :)

Thanks for the review

Srpilo

Thanks for your review.

Thanks for posting your review. Glad you had a nice time (Despite the scary excursion experience).

I'm interseted in your whale tour .Any details please Contact numbers?

Thanks

I hope to like Millie as much as you

Not too many folks take the time to write a review on the Millinneum very often so thanks for that.

I have a couple of questions if you do not mind. What room type and deck were you on? How was the entertainment ? Have any trouble finding lounge chairs on sea days?

Thanks in advance for your response.....Spanky my

Nice review. I like Millenium and will sail again on her in 2011. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Our whale watch tour was through Island Style Fishing - here is their website with contact information.

http://www.islandstylefishing.com/

Captain Jerry was great! He is quite personable and informative.

We were in stateroom 8127, which is a sky suite. We were contacted by Celebrity and upgraded at no cost by the cruise line just days before the cruise. I don't want to get flamed, because 8127 is an accessible stateroom, larger than a normal sky suite. We did not request this change, but we assume that we were asked if we wanted to upgrade because this stateroom remained unsold. There have been other posts regarding wheelchair accessible rooms being assigned to non-handicapped passengers, and they elicited quite an uproar from some folks. The stateroom was clean and comfortable, the butler and stateroom attendant both quite attentive to our wants.

I did forget to mention the entertainment. I thought it was quite good for a cruise line. The shows we saw were very enjoyable and the cast was professional. I do know that our cruise on 10/11 was the final sailing for that particular cast. From what I understand, the cast breaks up after their contract is up, and they must reapply if they wish to perform again on a Celebrity ship. If they perform again, they will be assigned to a new cast. They were good singers and dancers, and the orchestra was very good as well. There was a juggler who used LED juggling props in the dark and that was a very interesting effect - I know his first name was Mike, but I forgot his last name. There was a comedian that our tablemates liked - we missed that show. The crew members also have a talent show at the end of the cruise for the entertainment of the passengers.

It was a great cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to do another one like that. I hope you all enjoy your cruises as much as we did.

Not too many folks take the time to write a review on the Millinneum very often so thanks for that.

 

I have a couple of questions if you do not mind. What room type and deck were you on? How was the entertainment ? Have any trouble finding lounge chairs on sea days?

 

Thanks in advance for your response.....Spanky my

The first sea day I do recall there were a lot of people by the pool, but we did find some deck chairs on deck 11, the deck above the pool. The time of day that you venture to the pool will determine how many chairs are available. If you go early (we went out around 9:30 am on the second sea day) there will be chairs available near the pool. That was early enough for me to get some sun - I was careful not to burn this trip. If you go out later, you will have trouble finding chairs in the sun by the pool. You'll probably find some in the shade or on deck 11, as I stated earlier. You have to consider that there are over 2000 passengers on the ship on a sea day.

Hi 2-4 Cruisin !

Thanks for your excellent review. Im happy to hear you had a great Cruise on Millennium. Welcome Home !

2 - 4 thanks for a great review, we are doing the same cruise next week. I do have a question, when were the formal nights, I had heard unofficially that they are on both Wednesday's (st Kitts and Aruba).

Thanks in advance and welcome home.

2-4,

Thanks for the great review. We are also going to be on the same cruise that leaves on 11-1.

Can you tell me if you had late or early seating (or anytime seating) and how that worked out for the shows and excursions for you. And if that was a good choice or not. This is one of the last things we're still on the fence with.

Thanks.

Neil

 

We were in stateroom 8127, which is a sky suite... 8127 is an accessible stateroom, larger than a normal sky suite.

Thanks for the info on 8127. I'm in 8127 next week. Like yourself I did not request this stateroom but will welcome the extra space. Is the balcony bigger than a normal sky suite?

2 - 4 thanks for a great review, we are doing the same cruise next week. I do have a question, when were the formal nights, I had heard unofficially that they are on both Wednesday's (st Kitts and Aruba).

 

Thanks in advance and welcome home.

This is true - our formal nights were on Wednesday 10/13 and on the night we were in Aruba 10/20.

2-4,

 

Thanks for the great review. We are also going to be on the same cruise that leaves on 11-1.

 

Can you tell me if you had late or early seating (or anytime seating) and how that worked out for the shows and excursions for you. And if that was a good choice or not. This is one of the last things we're still on the fence with.

 

Thanks.

Neil

We had early dinner seating and it worked out well for the later show. We always choose early dinner for the reason that we don't stay up very very late and it's hard to sleep on a full tummy! Food was great!

Thanks for the info on 8127. I'm in 8127 next week. Like yourself I did not request this stateroom but will welcome the extra space. Is the balcony bigger than a normal sky suite?

I am not familiar with other sky suites. We started out booking a verandah, were upgraded to a concierge class stateroom and then to the sky suite. The balcony is large enough to hold a small round side table, two chairs and two ottomans. I don't really have a good photo of the balcony. It was large enough to sit out there in the morning with our coffee admiring the view.

I'm going to try to attach a photo of 8127. Click on the word photo and it will take you to a photo in my Picasa album.

I hope that all of you scheduled to cruise on the Millennium soon enjoy your trip. Please tell John the butler that the Stewarts said hello. You will really enjoy the attention he gives you!

Thank's for the review. We will be cruising her in January. No suite up-grade for us though, they are all booked.

Rollie

WE are going for 11 days for Thanksgiving

Are there only 2 fancy nights or more?

Only 2 formal nights on a 11 day cruise.

Rollie

Our trip on the Millenium (10-11 through 10-22) was exceptional.

Embarkation check-in was amazingly simple and quick. We toured the ship before heading to deck 10 for lunch. We met our stateroom attendant Lydia and our butler John. Our luggage was delivered in a timely manner and John offered to help us unpack. Not necessary for us, but we thanked him anyway.

 

 

The itinerary was perfect. 4 of the 8 islands we had visited before (St. Lucia, Barbados, Aruba and Curacao) and 4 were new to us (St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica and Grenada). All were lovely in their own way. My husband is a scuba diver and did make dives on 5 of the 8 islands. The only one he was not happy with was the excursion with Mermaid Divers in Aruba. They broke all the rules and he was very upset on his return to the ship. This wasn’t a ship-sponsored excursion, so I can’t tell you what their excursion was like.

 

 

I did a whale-watching trip in Dominica, but not with the ship. I signed up with Captain Jerry on the advice of another CC member. What a great trip it was and I would advise anyone else considering a whale-watching trip to contact him. We saw 8 whales, 2 of them were calves. They are amazing creatures!

 

 

 

I took the ship’s shore excursion in Barbados, which was a turtle snorkeling trip. That was a mistake and probably the only bad part of the cruise. The tour operators dropped us off into a 3-4 knot current and we were swept away from their boat. I’m not a strong swimmer, and my husband had to swim against the current with me hanging onto him. That was a frightening trip and I plan on letting Celebrity know that I felt the tour operators should not have put us into the water in a current like that. To add insult to injury, the crew members were laughing at the people needing help returning to the boat on the second snorkeling stop. I know because I was afraid to get into the water there after my first experience, and I heard them. They had to launch a small rescue boat to bring some of their passengers to safety there. Very funny, huh?

 

 

The food was excellent in the dining room and our waiter and assistant waiter very attentive. Serap, the assistant waiter, was the most charming young lady, always smiling. The food in the buffet was good enough for a lunch or breakfast buffet. I don’t remember anything there that I disliked. Well, maybe the coffee. Why coffee at dinner tasted better than coffee from the Ocean Grill – I never could figure that out. Dinner at the Olympic restaurant was beyond compare. We enjoyed that meal immensely and the service was fantastic. Our dinner companions were great – we really enjoyed spending our time with them.

 

 

 

The accommodations were more than satisfactory – we found everything to be neat and clean and we were very happy with the décor and the upkeep of the ship in general.

 

 

Crew members from officers to the men and women shining the mirrors and the doors were always ready with a greeting and a smile.

 

 

 

We asked everyone we saw how they were enjoying the cruise and they all said what a great time they were having. There were a very few people who complained – but aren’t there always just a few?

 

 

We were sad to leave the ship, but the only thing that made it bearable was to be able to see my children and grandson again. Otherwise, I would have been seriously considering a back-to-back, if I had a few more bucks to spare!

Hi Jeanne,

Just saw this review. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the cruise! We loved it, too. It was great meeting you on the whale watch excursion. That was the highlight of our cruise! Just amazing. How did your photos come out?

Sorry to hear about your excursion on Barbados. We took one with Jason and he went to a place the ship did not go and luckily we didn't have any issues. I hope you at least got to enjoy some sea turtles.

Our dinner in the Olympic restaurant was wonderful! It's tough to be back home and back to reality, isn't it?

Nancy

Thanks for the great review. We have fond memories of Millie from our cruise in Europe several years ago.

2-4,

 

Thanks for the great review. We are also going to be on the same cruise that leaves on 11-1.

 

Can you tell me if you had late or early seating (or anytime seating) and how that worked out for the shows and excursions for you. And if that was a good choice or not. This is one of the last things we're still on the fence with.

 

Thanks.

Neil

Hi Neil,

We really enjoyed our cruise on the Millennium! The ship, itinerary, staff and crew were awesome! I am not sure if it's too late for you, but we had late seating last week and would definitely NOT do it again. Many people I spoke to felt the same way. We always enjoy late seating but this was pushed back to 8:45 and added to that was very slow service from our own waiters and several around us as well, so we ate quite late. We did not have our entree brought to us until around 10:10 on the second night of the cruise! I could not even eat by then. Early seating is too early for us, so we are going to try Select next time. We have not done that before but quite a few people we took excursions with did and loved it. We also heard that the Bistro waterfall (they charge a small fee) was very good. We LOVED our dinner in the Olympic Specialty Restaurant.

Enjoy your cruise!

Nancy